Bysantinsk mosaikkfunn

Denne veka blir det presentert eit nytt interessant funn med bysantinsk mosaikk i Israel.

Her er eit utdrag frå pressemeldinga frå Israel Antiquities Authority:

A Spectacular 1,500 Year Old Mosiac was Exposed in the Fields of Kibbutz Bet Qama in the South of the Country (May 2013)

(…)

The main building at the site was a large hall 12 meters long by 8.5 meters wide and its ceiling was apparently covered with roof tiles. The hall’s impressive opening and the breathtaking mosaic that adorns its floor suggest that the structure was a public building.
The well-preserved mosaic is decorated with geometric patterns and its corners are enhanced with amphorae (jars used to transport wine), a pair of peacocks, and a pair of doves pecking at grapes on a tendril. These are common designs that are known from this period; however, what makes this mosaic unique is the large number of motifs that were incorporated in one carpet.

(…)

Archaeologists in the Antiquities Authority are still trying to determine the purpose of the impressive public building and the pools whose construction required considerable economic resources.

(…)

During the Byzantine period Jewish and Christian settlements in the region were located next to each other. Two of the nearby Jewish settlements are Horbat Rimon, where a synagogue and ritual bath (miqwe) were exposed, and the Nahal Shoval antiquities site, recently excavated prior to the construction of the Cross-Israel Highway, where ritual baths were uncovered. Noteworthy among the Christian settlements are the churches at Abu Hof in Lahav Forest and the monastery at Givot Bar.

Les meir

(via BiblePlaces Blog)

Bysantinsk kyrkjelykt

photographs: Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

Eg syns denne 1500 år gamle lykta er fascinerande.

Det er israelske arkeologar som denne veka har presentert funnet av ei keramikk-lykt frå bysantinsk tid, forma som ei kyrkje.

Hovudfunnet på staden er ei stor vinpresse.

IAA skriv:

The owner of the wine press was probably a Christian, because near it we found a ceramic lantern decorated by five crosses. The lantern was designed as a miniature church building, with an oval opening on one side that enabled to insert an oil lamp. The other sides of the lantern were decorated by geometric impressions creating a design of palm branches. The crosses were carved in the walls of the lantern, so when the lantern was lit in a small room glowing crosses were projected on the walls and the cieling.

(Les meir)

Artdaily.org skriv også om funnet:

A ceramic model of a church from the Byzantine period, which is somewhat a rarity in archaeological research, was found near the wine press. This object is a kind of clay box that has an accentuated and decorated opening in its broad side. Floral decorations and crosses appear on the other three sides. The roof of the model is fashioned in the shape of a sloped tile roof, and in its four corners are four decorative knobs meant to accentuate the corners. On the top of the roof a large loop handle, also flanked by crosses, was attached for holding or suspending the object. The variety of decorations and building-like features of the object suggest this is a miniature model of a church. According to Dr. Avner, “Objects of this kind are known from archaeological research as lanterns: they were used as practical ritual objects that were hung or placed inside buildings. An oil lamp inserted into it through the decorated opening illuminated the inside of the model. Since the crosses also served as narrow openings, the light was disseminated via them and shadows of crosses were projected onto the walls of the building where the object was placed.

(les meir)

Funnet er gjort i ei utgraving i Hamei Yoav nær Ashkelon (eller Asjkalon, som Bibelselskapet skriv i sine kart).

(via PaleoJudaica)

Arkeologi i Israel 2/2013

The Bible and Interpretation har nyleg presentert si oppdatering over aktuelle saker knytt til arkeologi i Israel:

Archaeology in Israel Update—February 2013

Utgravingar nær Golgata

Det er gjort arkeologiske utgravingar under The Church of the Redeemer, den lutherske kyrkja som ligg like ved Gravkyrkja i Jerusalem. Utgravingane er nyleg opna for publikum. Dette var eg ikkje klar over då eg var i Jerusalem i forrige veke. Dermed har eg altså program klart for neste besøk i denne fascinerande byen.

DW skriv:

Never been anything like this in Jerusalem

Two-thousand years of biblical history lay buried 14 meters beneath the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem. German archeologist Dieter Vieweger led the excavation of the site.

A Herodian quarry, the remains of Golgotha, buildings from the period of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, mosaics from the Church of Saint Maria Latina: At the end of 2012, the Archaeological Park was opened under the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem, giving visitors the chance to take a tour of these locations and understand the city’s colorful past. German archeologist Dieter Vieweger spent three years building the park together with a team of students and experts.

(…)

The archaeological park makes 2,000 years of history in Jerusalem visible – from Herod to the Crusaders to today. As a biblical archeologist, which chapter in history do you find most interesting?

For me, of course, the oldest layers are the most interesting – those buried 14 meters (46 feet) under the Church of the Redeemer. That’s where we found a stone quarry built by Herod the Great. You can actually walk around it and see how thick the stones were carved out, sawn and broken. The quarry was used to expand the city to the east of the site at Herod’s instruction. But not all of the stone was taken from the ground where the Church of the Redeemer now stands. This area was later called Golgotha, the location where Jesus was crucified. In this section of the archeological park, visitors come very close to Christian and Jewish history.

Les meir

(via BiblePlaces Blog)

Jerusalems sekulære religion

Eg les Montefiore sin Jerusalemsbiografi for tida. Det er ei stor bok i alle tydingar av ordet. Eg er fascinert og kjem sikkert tilbake til boka seinare.

I dag vil eg sitera frå eit par avsnitt som blei sjølvransakande for meg i mi interesse for Jerusalems arkeologi. Eg står sikkert i fare for å oversjå menneska mellom alt det som er religions- og kulturhistorisk interessant.

Eg har kome til skildringa av 1800-talet. I kapitlet om 1860-åra skriv han om arkeologien i samband med den engelske prins Albert Edward sitt besøk i 1862:

Prinsens besøk styrket følelsen av at Jerusalem på sett og vis var en liten del av England. (…) Prinsen ble vist rundt til severdighetene av domprosten i Westminster, Arthur Stanley, hvis uhyre innflytelsesrike bok om bibelhistorien og arkeologiske spekulasjoner fikk en hel generasjon briter til å tro at Jerusalem var “et land som fra barndommen er oss mer kjært enn selv England”. Midt på 1800-tallet ble arkeologien ikke bare en ny historisk disiplin innen studiet av fortiden, men også en måte å forme fremtiden på. Ikke rart at arkeologien straks ble politisert. Den var ikke lenger bare en kulturell fetisj, en trend i tiden og en kongelig hobby, men imperiebygging med andre midler og en form for militær spionasje. Den ble Jerusalems sekulære religion og dessuten, i hendene på imperialistiske kristne som domprost Stanley, en vitenskap i Guds tjeneste. Hvis den kunne bekrefte at Bibelen og lidelseshistorien var sanne, kunne kristne kreve Det hellige land tilbake. (side 437-438)

Og litt seinare, om “troskyldige turister”:

Turistene, enten de var religiøse eller ikke, kristne eller jøder, enten de het Chateaubriand, Montefiore eller Twain, var flinke til å se hvor guder hadde stått, men nesten blinde når det gjaldt å se menneskene som nå bodde der. Gjennom historien har Jerusalem eksistert i fantasien til troende som befant seg langt unna, i Amerika og Europa. Nå som de kom i tusentall om bord på dampskip, forventet de å gjenfinne de eksotiske og farlige, pittoreske og autentiske scenene de hadde sett for seg ved hjelp av Bibelen, viktorianske rasefordommer og, etter ankomst, ved hjelp av tolker og guider. (side 442-443)

Dette gir, som sagt, god grunn til sjølvransaking for meg. Og sikkert også for andre som er glade i å reisa til Israel og dei palestinske områda.

Ved nærare ettertanke trur eg likevel eg kan seia at teologistudiet og engasjementet i Den Norske Israelsmisjon har gitt ein god ballast i møte med desse tendensane som Montefiore skildrar så treffande. Arkeologien er ikkje eit middel som beviser noko for meg som teolog. Den er heller med og utvider perspektivet eg har på Bibelen. Og i Israelsmisjonen har eg lært å vera opptatt av dei levande steinane, altså menneska, ikkje bare dei døde. Derfor går misjon og forsoningsarbeid hand i hand med interessa for bibelhistoria.

Meir om hamna i Akko

Det er gjort omfattande arkeologiske undersøkingar av hamneanlegget i Akko, eller Ptolemais som byen heitte i nytestamentleg tid (Apg 21,7).

Sjå rapport frå IAA her: Akko’s Magnificent Harbor from 2,300 Years Ago is Exposed on the Seabed.

Sjå også tidlegare notat: Hamna i Akko / Ptolemais frå 2009.

Synagogefunn i Huqoq

Det er grave fram ein synagoge frå bysantinsk tid i Huqoq vest for Kapernaum i Galilea. Synagogen har flott mosaikk med bibelske motiv blant anna av Samson frå Domarboka.

Her er eit utdrag frå pressemeldinga frå IAA, som også inneheld lenke til bilete av mosaikken:

Monumental synagogue building discovered in excavations in Galilee

A monumental synagogue building dating to the Late Roman period (ca. 4th-5th centuries C.E.) has been discovered in archaeological excavations at Huqoq in Israel’s Galilee.

(…)
Huqoq is an ancient Jewish village located approximately two to three miles west of Capernaum and Migdal (Magdala). Thissecond season of excavations has revealed portions of a stunning mosaic floor decorating the interior of the synagogue building. The mosaic, which is made of tiny colored stone cubes of the highest quality, includes a scene depicting Samson placing torches between the tails of foxes (as related in the book of Judges 15). In another part of the mosaic, two human (apparently female) faces flank a circular medallion with a Hebrew inscription that refersto rewards for those who performgood deeds.

“This discovery is significant because only a small number of ancient (Late Roman) synagogue buildings are decorated with mosaics showing biblical scenes, and only two others have scenes with Samson (one is at another site just a couple of miles from Huqoq),” said Magness, the Kenan Distinguished Professor in the department of religious studies in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences. “Our mosaics are also important because of their high artistic quality and the tiny size of the mosaic cubes. This, together with the monumental size of the stones used to construct the synagogue’s walls, suggest a high level of prosperity in this village, as the building clearly was very costly.” (…)

Via BiblePlaces Blog

Beinkista til Jakob, Jesu bror?

Det har dei siste åra gått ei sak om ei beinkiste som er funne i Jerusalem. Kista har påskrifta Jakob, Josefs son, Jesu bror.

Det har vore stor usemje om innskrifta. Spørsmålet er om den er autentisk. Siste ord er neppe sagt om dette, sjølv om Biblical Archaeology Society i dag har sendt ut følgjande pressemelding:

“Brother of Jesus” Proved Ancient and Authentic

A new analysis and new evidence proves that the controversial “Brother of Jesus” inscription on an ancient bone box, or ossuary, is authentic, according to the July/August issue of Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR), the world’s largest circulation magazine devoted to Biblical archaeology.

After a 5-year trial, Jerusalem judge Aharon Farkash recently acquitted the defendants of all charges of forgery. But his verdict doesn’t mean the Aramaic inscription on the bone box, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,” is authentic. It only means that the prosecution failed to present evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the inscription is a forgery.

In a post-verdict analysis, former U.S. Department of Justice lawyer and BAR editor Hershel Shanks explains why it can be said beyond reasonable doubt that the inscription is authentic, and he presents new evidence not available at the trial to support this conclusion.

Les meir

Sidkias grotte

Sidkias grotte er eit stort og gamalt steinbrot som går langt inn under Gamlebyen i Jerusalem.

Inngangen ligg på utsida av bymuren, nær Damaskus-porten.

Foto: Wikipedia.

Ved å lesa artikkelen Finding the Freemasons in Jerusalem i Israel Hayom har eg i dag lært meir om staden. Eg var blant anna ikkje klar over at dette var ein viktig samlingsstad for frimurarane på byrjinga av 1900-talet.

Legendene knyter staden til kong Sidkia (“Zedekiah’s Cave”), som var konge i Jerusalem då jødane blei bortført til Babylon, og til kong Salomo og bygginga av det første templet (“King Solomon’s Quarry”). Historisk sett er det nok ikkje råd å stadfesta kor langt tilbake det har vore tatt ut stein her, men det er i alle høve klart at Herodes den store brukte staden ved bygginga av templet i det siste hundreåret før Kristi fødsel.

Staden blir i dag forvalta av East Jerusalem Development Ltd som har ei nettside med kart og ein kort informasjonstekst her. Wikipedia gir mykje meir informasjon om staden her.

(via BiblePlaces Blog)

Kultfunn frå kong Davids tid

Det er gjort viktige arkeologiske funn av kultiske gjenstandar frå kong Davids tid i utgravingane i Khirbet Qeiyafa. Dette kom fram under ein presentasjon i Jerusalem i går.

Khirbet Qeiyafa ligg i Ela-dalen ca 30 km sørvest for Jerusalem, eit område som er omtalt i forteljinga om David og Goliat i 1. Sam 17,2-3. Tidlegare bibelomsetjingar kalla staden “Terebintedalen”.

Hebrew University archaeologist finds the first evidence of a cult in Judah at the time of King David

Discovery has implications for our understanding of Solomon’s Temple

Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, the Yigal Yadin Professor of Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, announced today the discovery of objects that for the first time shed light on how a cult was organized in Judah at the time of King David. During recent archaeological excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa, a fortified city in Judah adjacent to the Valley of Elah, Garfinkel and colleagues uncovered rich assemblages of pottery, stone and metal tools, and many art and cult objects. These include three large rooms that served as cultic shrines, which in their architecture and finds correspond to the biblical description of a cult at the time of King David.

This discovery is extraordinary as it is the first time that shrines from the time of early biblical kings were uncovered. Because these shrines pre-date the construction of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem by 30 to 40 years, they provide the first physical evidence of a cult in the time of King David, with significant implications for the fields of archaeology, history, biblical and religion studies.

Les meir

Les ein interessant kommentar til funnet på BiblePlaces Blog.

Eg skreiv første gong om utgravingane i Khirbet Qeiyafa her (2008). Sjå også oppfølging frå 2010 her.

The Hebrew University Archaeology News Distribution List

Reblogged from Zwinglius Redivivus:

Dov Smith writes

Anyone interested in subscribing to the Hebrew University’s archaeology news distribution list can send an email to dovs@savion.huji.ac.il with the subject line “Subscribe to archaeology list”

Bestilling av abonnement på lista er sendt!

The Earliest Christian Graffito?

Reblogged from Larry Hurtado's Blog:

In my previous posting I briefly described Roger Bagnall's new book, Everyday Writing in the Graeco-Roman East, and I mentioned his lead chapter on a body of graffiti from ancient Smyrna. Among the items he discusses in this chapter, I was particularly (predictably!) intrigued with one that Bagnall confidently claims must be Christian (pp. 22-23).  Here are the basic data:

Les meir… 500 fleire ord

Larry Hurtado skriv her om ein grafittitekst frå før år 125 i det gamle Smyrna, dvs dagens Izmir. Teksten inneheld orda herre og tru, og det er ikkje usannsynleg at dette er ein kristen tekst. Les gjerne heile det interessante innlegget hos Larry Hurtado, som altså skriv om boka Everyday Writing in the Graeco-Roman East.

Kathisma-kyrkja

Den bysantinske kyrkja Kathisma låg ved vegen mellom Jerusalem og Betlehem, ved det som i dag heiter Hebron Road (nær Eliaklosteret). Kyrkja var bygd på 400-talet på ein stad der Maria i følgje tradisjonen sette seg og kvilte på veg til Betlehem. Kathisma (καθισμα) betyr sete.  Tradisjonen kjem frå Jakobs protoevangelium.

Sjå omtale av kyrkja her.

Tidsskriftet ‘Atiqot har nå ein artikkel om dei siste utgravingane som er gjort på staden. Artikkelen kan kjøpast online. Her er omtale av artikkelen på ‘Atiqot si nettside:

The Upper Aqueduct to Jerusalem, the Church of the Kathisma and Other Remains near Hebron Road, Jerusalem (with a contribution by Gabriela Bijovsky)

(Hebrew, pp. 69*–90*; English summary, pp. 160–162)

Ya‘akov Billig

Keywords: Water system, Christianity, agriculture, burial, numismatics, chronology

Sections of the Upper Aqueduct to Jerusalem were revealed while widening Hebron Road in Jerusalem, enabling a better understanding of its original route and date. Most of the finds scattered on surface level near the aqueduct—mainly pottery and coins—dated to the Late Roman and Byzantine periods; finds dating to the First and Second Temple periods were found as well. Other elements discovered during the excavation and surveys in the area include: agricultural terraces, burial caves, a winepress, a cistern and a quarry. In the surveyed area, at the site of Bir Qadismo, were numerous finds scattered on the surface, which pointed to the presence of a large public building, possibly a church from the Byzantine period: ashlars, column fragments, a pedestal, marble items, roof tiles and a colorful mosaic floor. These were identified as the remains of the Church of Kathisma Palaeon.

Afghansk geniza?

Oppdatering 03.05.2012: Les meir om funnet på The Talmud Blog.

Det er visstnok funne ei samling gamle jødiske skrifter i ei hole i Afghanistan. Det blir sagt at det dreier seg om ein såkalla geniza, ein “gravstad” for jødiske heilage skrifter. Samlinga skal blant anna innehalda 1000 år gamle bibelske tekstar (avsnitt frå Jesaia). Jerusalem Post skreiv nyleg om funnet. Her er eit utdrag:

The scholarly world is abuzz over the discovery of ancient Jewish scrolls in a cave in Afghanistan’s Samangan province. If the scrolls are authenticated, they may be the most significant historical finding in the Jewish world since that of the Cairo Geniza in the 19th century, Channel 2 Arab affairs correspondent Ehud Ya’ari reported Friday. (…) The scrolls, which were part of a geniza – a burial site for sacred Jewish texts – date from around 1,000 years ago and are in Arabic, Judeo-Arabic and ancient Persian. Les meir

Den nemnte Kairo-genizaen kan du lesa om her. (via Dr. Claude Mariottini) Oppdatering 15.01.2011: Det er framleis uklart i kva samanheng skriftene er funne. Les meir om spørsmålsstillingar og teoriar som har kome opp etter at funnet blei kjent, hos PaleoJudaica.

Segl frå Det andre tempelet

Herodiansk veg ved Vestmuren. Foto: Arne Berge 2011

Arkeologar har i dag kunngjort eit funn som blir knytt til tempeltenesta i Jerusalem i det første hundreåret. Det dreier seg om ein gjenstand som kan vera eit segl som markerte at noko var rituelt reint.

Funnet er gjort ved det sørvestre hjørnet av tempelplassen, der det er grave ut ein veg frå herodiansk tid (biletet).

Det har vore pressekonferanse i dag (godt koordinert med jødisk chanukkafeiring og kristen julefeiring?). Funnet har allereie fått mykje omtale på nettet, og det vil truleg bli fleire oppslag i dagane som kjem.

PaleoJudaica kommenterer pressemeldinga frå IAA slik:

The IAA has just announced an important scientifically-excavated epigraphic find that likely pertains directly to the ritual life of the Herodian Temple. The fact that it happens to be announced on both Hanukkah and Christmas is, I’m sure, entirely coincidental.

Her er pressemeldinga, gjengitt via PaleoJudaica:

Exposed – A Find Indicative of the Activity in the Temple

A first of its kind find, indicative of activity in the Temple, was recently discovered:
a tiny item that was probably used as a “voucher” certifying the ritual purity of an object or food in the Temple Mount compound and in the Second Temple

The discovery was presented at a press conference at which the Minister of Culture Limor Livnat and Minister of Education Gideon Sa’ar participated

Layers of soil covering the foundations of the Western Wall, c. 15 meters north of the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount, were excavated beneath Robinson’s Arch in archaeological excavations of the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden. On top of these layers, dating to the first century CE (the late Second Temple period), was paved the Herodian street which was the main road of Jerusalem at that time. From the very start of the excavations in this area the archaeologists decided that all of the soil removed from there would be meticulously sifted (including wet-sifting and thorough sorting of the material remnants left in the sieve). This scientific measure is being done in cooperation with thousands of pupils in the Tzurim Valley National Park, and is underwritten by the Ir David Association. It was during the sieving process that a tiny object of fired clay, the size of a button (c. 2 centimeter in diameter) was discovered. The item is stamped with an Aramaic inscription consisting of two lines – in the upper line “דכא” and below it “ליה”. “דכא” or “דכי” in Aramaic means pure. Following the preposition “ל” in the word “ליה” is the shortened form (two of the four letters) for the name of the G-d of Israel.

According to the excavation directors on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, archaeologists Eli Shukron of the IAA and Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa, “The meaning of the inscription is “Pure for G-d”. It seems that the inscribed object was used to mark products or objects that were brought to the Temple, and it was imperative they be ritually pure. This stamped impression is probably the kind referred to in the Mishnah (Tractate Shekalim 5: 1-5) as a “חותם” (seal). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that such an object or anything similar to it was discovered in an archaeological excavation and it constitutes direct archaeological evidence of the activity on the Temple Mount and the workings of the Temple during the Second Temple period”.

Les meir

Bysantinsk funn i Jerusalem

“a miniature Christian prayer box”

Det blir stadig gjort interessante funn i utgravingane i Davidsbyen i Jerusalem. Denne veka blei det kjent at det er funne eit lite objekt med kristen ikonkunst frå det sjette eller sjuande hundreåret, det vil seia frå bysantinsk tid (som i Jerusalem tilsvarer perioden 325-638 e.Kr).

Funn er gjort på parkeringsplassen Givati i Davidsbyen, like utanfor Gamlebyen.

Arutz-7 skriv:

Byzantine Prayer Box Found in Jerusalem Dig
Miniature box adorned with cross dates from 6-7 century CE. Contained two icons surrounded by gold leaf.
By Gil Ronen

Archaeologists in Jerusalem discovered a miniature Christian prayer box that dates back to the sixth or seventh century CE.

The box was found at the “Givati parking lot” dig in Ir David. Dig supervisors noted that illustrated Byzantine holy objects are very rarely found in the Holy Land.

The box contained two icon paintings surrounded by gold leaf and was probably a personal prayer object. It is 2.2 cm. (about 0.9 inch) long by 1.6 cm. wide and is made from the bone of a large animal – cattle, a camel or a horse.

The find was presented by dig supervisor Yana Tchekhanovets, along with Israel Antiquities Authority’s Dr. Doron Ben Ami.

One painting inside the box depicts a bearded man with dark hair, wearing what appears to be a white tunic. The other painting seems to show a female figure dressed in blue. Similar boxes were found on bodies discovered in burial caves in the Moshchevaya Balka site in the northern Caucasus.

Sjå artikkel med bilete.

(via BiblePlaces Blog)

Oppdatering: Israel Antiquities Authority har lagt ut ei pressemelding om saka: An Ancient Christian Prayer Box was Discovered in Excavations in Jerusalem 

Det eldste bilete av Jesus?

Det eldste kjente biletet av Jesus er funne i Dura-Europos i Syria og er frå år 240. Biletet blir vist fram på ei utstilling som opna i dag (23.09.2011) i New York. Det er New York Observer som skriv om dette som skal vera det eldste kjente Jesusbiletet:

Earliest Known Images of Christ on Display at NYU
Exhibition highlights religious coexistence and multiculturalism

This Friday, the earliest known images of Christ, from the year 240, go on view in New York for the first time, and they aren’t where you might expect them to be. They are part of a remarkable exhibition at the relatively obscure N.Y.U. Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, a jewel-box of a museum on East 84th Street whose mission, according to exhibitions director Dr. Jennifer Chi, is “to break down preconceived notions of antiquity.”

Utstillinga heiter Edge of Empires. Pagans, Jews, and Christians at Roman Dura-Europos. Det er Institute for the Study of the Ancient World ved New York University som inviterer til utstillinga. Instituttet er i følgje den seriøse bloggen PaleoJudaica ikkje så obskurt som avisa vil ha det til.

Avisa skriv også om andre viktige funn som er gjort i Dura-Europos:

Art and artifacts of stunning historical importance were uncovered. The paintings of Christ are part of a series of New Testament scenes that exhibition co-curator Dr. Peter De Staebler said are “the earliest dated Christian art in existence.” Narratives painted on the walls of Dura’s large synagogue, considered the best-preserved in the world, revealed a Jewish figural tradition that had been totally unknown—that had, in fact, been thought to be nonexistent. The rediscovery of these painted Bible stories—among them, Moses and the Burning Bush, the Sacrifice of Isaac and the Exodus from Egypt with the astounding representation of the hands of God (on display by photo and slideshow; the originals are in Damascus)—sparked a revolution in thinking about art and Jewish religious practice.

(…)

The New Testament scenes were found in what is believed to be the oldest-known baptistery, which was part of a Christian “house-church” (a house that was used as a church). Dura’s house-church is considered the oldest such structure ever revealed. The Institute is showing three of the baptistery’s original wall paintings.

Les meir

Les meir om Dura-Europos her.

Om beleiringa av Masada

Dei romerske soldatane som beleira Masada i år 73, måtte skaffa trevirke frå andre stadar. Dei kunne ikkje finna det dei trong i ørkenen nede ved Dødehavet. Dette kan verka opplagt. Men det kan nå slås fast på bakgrunn av forsking ved Haifa Universitet. Forskinga seier dermed noko om at klimaet ikkje var så annleis den gong enn det er i dag. Dette notatet kan dermed vera med og fylla ut det eg tidlegare har skrive om klimaet på Jesu tid.

Her er eit utdrag frå pressemeldinga om forskingsprosjektet:

The Roman Legion that lay siege on Masada some 2,000 years ago was forced to use timber from other areas in the land of Israel for its weapons and encampments, and was not able to use local wood as earlier studies have proposed. This has been revealed in a new study conducted at the University of Haifa, refuting earlier suggestions that described the Judean Desert area as more humid in the times of the Second Temple.

Despite all the historic and archaeological evidence that has been revealed about the Roman siege on Masada, scholars are at difference over the large quantities of timber and firewood that were required for the Jewish fortress defenders on the mountain and for the Roman besiegers. A previous study by researchers from the Weizmann Institute of wooden remains found on the siege rampart showed that they originated from a more humid habitat, and assuming that the timber was local, claimed that this was proof of the Judean region being more humid some 2,000 years ago. The University of Haifa researchers maintain that the wood originated in a more humid region: not from the local habitat but brought from a more humid region to the foot of Masada by the well-organized Roman military supply unit.

Les meir

(via BiblePlaces Blog)

Funn av sabbats-grensestein

Denne veka blei det gjort eit interessant funn i Galilea av ein stein med ein gamal inskripsjon av det hebraiske ordet SHABBAT.

Steinen skal vera ein grensestein som i romersk eller bysantinsk tid har markert kor langt ein kunne reisa på sabbaten. Det er visstnok første gong ein finn ein slik stein med hebraisk innskrift.

Tankegangen om at ein bare kunne reisa ein viss lengde på sabbaten, finn me nemnt i Apg 1,12:

Då vende dei tilbake til Jerusalem frå den høgda som heiter Oljeberget og ligg nær Jerusalem, berre ei sabbatsreise unna.

Det er Jerusalem Post som i dag fortel om funnet:

Shabbat boundary rock with Hebrew etching discovered
Inscription, discovered by chance by visitor in Lower Galilee, appears to date from the Roman or Byzantine period.
An ancient rock inscription of the word “Shabbat” was uncovered near Lake Kinneret this week – the first and only discovery of a stone Shabbat boundary in Hebrew.

The etching in the Lower Galilee community of Timrat appears to date from the Roman or Byzantine period.

News of the inscription, discovered by chance Sunday by a visitor strolling the community grounds, quickly reached Mordechai Aviam, head of the Institute for Galilean Archeology at Kinneret College.

“This is the first time we’ve found a Shabbat boundary inscription in Hebrew,” he said. “The letters are so clear that there is no doubt that the word is ‘Shabbat.’”

Aviam said Jews living in the area in the Roman or Byzantine era (1st-7th centuries CE) likely used the stone to denote bounds within which Jews could travel on Shabbat. The Lower Galilee of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages had a Jewish majority – many of the Talmudic sages bore toponyms indicative of Galilee communities.

The engraving uncovered in Timrat is the first and only Shabbat boundary marker yet discovered in Hebrew – a similar inscription was found in the vicinity of the ancient Western Galilee village of Usha, but its text was written in Greek.

Aviam and his colleagues plan to enlist local help in scouring neighboring areas to locate additional inscriptions, and eventually to publish their findings in an academic journal.

“This represents a beautiful, fascinating link between our modern world and antiquity, both emotional and archeological,” Aviam said. “Certainly for those of us who are religiously observant, but also for the secular among us who enjoy a stroll on Shabbat to know that we’re walking in places where Jewish history lived two thousand years ago.”

Omtalen av kor steinen er funnen, er litt forvirrande. Funnet er lokalisert til Timrat i nedre Galilea. Timrat ligg ikkje spesielt nær Gennesaretsjøen (Lake Kinneret).

Under Jerusalem II

Artikkelen Beneath Jerusalem, an underground city takes shape fortel om arbeidet med å grava ut og opna ulike gamle tunnelar under Gamlebyen i Jerusalem. Det kan av artikkelen sjå ut som om ein del av ein av tunnelane blir opna i sommar.

Her er eit par små utdrag:

A new underground link is opening within two months, and when it does, there will be more than a mile (two kilometers) of pathways beneath the city. Officials say at least one other major project is in the works. Soon, anyone so inclined will be able to spend much of their time in Jerusalem without seeing the sky.

(…)

The next major project, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority, will follow the course of one of the city’s main Roman-era streets underneath the prayer plaza at the Western Wall. This route, scheduled for completion in three years, will link up with the Western Wall tunnel.

Sjå også tidlegare bloggnotat: Under Jerusalem.

(via  Ritmeyer Archaeological Design, som også har med bilete frå nokre av tunnelane).

Under Jerusalem

Det blir arbeidd mykje med å grava ut ulike gamle tunnelar under Gamlebyen og Davidsbyen i Jerusalem.

Avisa Haaretz publiserte i går ein stor artikkel om ulike sider ved dette arkeologiske arbeidet. Artikkelen inneheld mykje og interessant informasjon om dei ulike prosjekta. Dei politiske sidene ved arkeologien i Jerusalem får også rimeleg stor plass.

Artikkelen er skriven av Nir Hasson. Her er eit lite utdrag:

Jerusalem’s time tunnels

Horizontal excavations throughout the Old City of Jerusalem and Silwan are producing important archaeological discoveries, but opponents charge that they are undermining Palestinian foundations, in more ways than one.

(…)

After a few dozen meters, the tunnel suddenly drops from street level into the sewer below, which Josephus described. Once work is complete, visitors touring the City of David tunnels will be able to descend beneath the Old City walls and emerge from the ground at the Davidson Center, the archaeological park between just within the Dung Gate, to the immediate southwest of the Temple Mount. In the future, visitors may even be able to enter the Western Wall tunnels and continue all the way to the Via Dolorosa, in the heart of the Muslim Quarter. From there, it is a quick walk to the immense Zedekiah’s Cave under the Muslim Quarter buildings. All told, this means that visitors could potentially spend hours on end exploring subterranean Jerusalem from end to end of the ancient city (though not including the Temple Mount), barely seeing the light of day.

The excavation of the extensive network of caves and tunnels below the Western Wall, Silwan and the Muslim Quarter is now nearing completion. The intensive activity has been under way for decades, generally without collaboration between the various agencies involved. Yet despite the lack of a unified policy, critics of the tunnels charge that the excavations have changed the geography and geopolitics of Jerusalem’s Holy Basin. The tunnels have created a new Jerusalem, one illuminated by fluorescent bulbs – a Jewish-Israeli expanse devoid of Palestinians and conflicts. Whatever the case may be, it seems that from this point on, anyone who wants to talk about dividing Jerusalem will need two maps, one for above the surface and another for the subterranean.

Les meir

(via PaleoJudaica)

Nytt om Mar Gabriel

Det har vore stille omkring det gamle klosteret Mar Gabriel i Tyrkia eit par år. Nettstaden Zenit hadde nyleg ein artikkel med oppdateringar. Nyheitene er dessverre ikkje oppløftande.

Sjå tidlegare notat om klosteret:

• Mar Gabriel (27.01.2009)
• Meir om Mar Gabriel (07.03.2009)

Zenit skriv nå:

GEM OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY AT RISK IN TURKEY
Expropriation of Monastery Land Seen as Effort to Squash Syriacs

By Paul de Maeyer ROME, FEB. 18, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Not even the Mongols of the 14th century, when they killed 40 monks and some 400 faithful, succeeded in making one of the most ancient Christian convents in the world disappear, but perhaps Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, can.

This appears to be the case of the Syro-Orthodox monastery of Mor Gabriel or “Dayro d-Mor Gabriel,” called “Deyrulumur” in Turkish. It is located in the region of Turabdin in the southeast of Anatolia. The convent bears the name of Mor Gabriel (634-668), bishop of Turabdin, known for his witness of holiness and miracles.

The foundation of the monastery, which is situated southeast of the city of Midyat, in the province of Mardin, near the border with Syria, dates back to the year 397 A.D. and was the initiative of two monks, Mor Samuel and Mor Simon, who died in 409 and 433, respectively. The complex, which boasts elements built with the help of Byzantine emperors such as Arcadius (395-408) and Theodosius II (408-450), today houses a small community of three monks and 14 sisters.

Mor Gabriel, known also as the “second Jerusalem,” is not only a monastery. Mor Gabriel is in fact the See of the Metropolitan Mor Timotheus Samuel Aktas and the cultural and spiritual center of the dwindling Syro-Orthodox community of Turkey and of numerous Syriacs who’ve emigrated to the West. Just 50 years ago, some 130,000 Syriacs lived in the region of Turabdin — the name means “mountain of the servants of God” — but today their number has decreased to just a few thousand.

Les meir

(via PaleoJudaica)

Bysantinsk by på Naxos

Frå steinhaug til festningsby

Ein ukjent by frå bysantinsk tid blei i fjor undersøkt av norske arkeologar. Teamet skal halda fram med undersøkingane. I dag (20.02.2011) held arkeologen Håkon Ingvaldsen, som har leia arbeidet, foredrag om funnet i Oslo. Foredraget på Historisk Museum har tittelen Fra steinhaug til festningsby.

Vårt Land (papiravisa 18.02) hadde ein notis om saka. Dei skriv at det også blir opna ei utstilling om funnet i dag. Historisk Museum sine nettsider informerer bare om foredraget.

Ingvaldsen fortel til Vårt Land:

En stor havneby vokste fram og ble øyas midtpunkt i nesten 1.000 år. Innbyggerne forsvant imidlertid fra denne byen for tusen år siden eller mer,  vi vet ikke hvorfor, men en ny hovedstad ble reist bak massive festningsmurer på toppen av en klippe (…) At byen ble forlatt og bygget opp igjen et annet sted, tyder på at øyboerne på et tidspunkt sto over for en alvorlig og langvarig trussel. (…) Våre undersøkelser har reist flere spørsmål enn svar, men vi har fått holdepunkter for enkelte teorier om den mystiske festningsbyen og hva som kan ha [sic!] befolkningen på denne største øya i Kykladene, sier Ingvaldsen.

Kyrkjefunn i Horbat Midras

IAA har i dag kunngjort interessante arkeologiske funn i Horbat Midras (sørvest for Jerusalem).

Ein viktig del av funnet er ei bysantinsk kyrkje. Tradisjonen vil ha det til at dette er ei minnekyrkje som er bygd over profeten Sakarja si grav.

A discovery of major importance was uncovered in salvage excavations the IAA Conducted at Horbat Mid

An archaeological discovery, including an impressive mosaic floor that is large and beautiful and a church, was uncovered in excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority at Horbat Midras in the Judean Shephelah. Various scholars who visited the site during the excavation proposed identifying the place as the residence and tomb of the prophet Zechariah.

(…)

The church, in its last phases, was built as a basilica, at the front of which is a large flagstone courtyard from which worshippers passed into an entry corridor. Through a shaped opening one enters into the nave where there were eight breathtaking marble columns that bore magnificent capitals which were specially imported from Turkey. At the end of the nave is a raised bema and on either side of the nave are two wide aisles. All of the floors in the building were adorned with spectacular mosaic floors decorated with faunal and floral patterns and geometric designs that are extraordinarily well preserved. Located behind the bema are two rooms, one paved with a marble floor and the other that led to an underground tomb devoid of any finds. Branching out beneath the entire building is a subterranean hiding complex in which there are rooms, water installations, traps and store rooms. This complex belongs to the large building from the Second Temple period which the Byzantine church was built into. Among the artifacts discovered in the hiding complex are coins from the time of the Great Revolt (66-70 CE) and the Bar Kokhba uprising (132-135 CE), stone vessels, lamps and various pottery vessels that are characteristic of the Jewish population from the settlement at that time.

As previously mentioned, researchers who visited the site are of the opinion that this place is the residence and tomb of the prophet Zechariah. Ancient Christian sources identified the burial place of the prophet Zechariah in the village of Zechariah, and noted that his place of burial was discovered in 415 CE. The researchers believe that in light of an analysis of the Christian sources, including the Madaba Map, the church at Horbat Midras is a memorial church meant to mark the tomb of the prophet Zechariah. This subject will be examined and studied in the near future.

Les meir

Vårt Land har også tatt inn ein notis om saka i kveld: Kyrkje i Jerusalem kan løyne Sakarias-grava.

(via BiblePlaces Blog)

Egyptiske kulturskattar i fare

Det viktige Museum of Egyptian Antiquities ligg like ved Tahrir-plassen i Kairo. Eg har vore der. Det var fascinerande å sjå utstillingane over den gamle egyptiske kulturarven.

Det er i desse dagar god grunn til bekymring for kulturskattane som museet har ansvar for. Det har allereie vore innbrot. Og nabobygningar er sette i brann. Det er å håpa at dei som kjempar for fridom og dei som skapar kaos i ly av demonstrasjonane (eg er mest redd dei siste), held seg unna museet med skattar som heile verda har eit forhold til.

Egyptian Museum si nettside er ikkje tilgjengeleg (internett er p.t. stengt i Egypt), men du kan lesa om museet f eks på Wikipedia.

Situasjonen for historiske kulturskattar er uoversiktleg i heile Egypt. Det gjeld ikkje bare på Tahrir-plassen. Bloggen Egyptology News gir oppdatert informasjon.

Bloggen til Zahi Hawass har litt lenger artiklar med relativt optimistisk informasjon. Han sit i ein offisiell posisjon som ansvarleg for forvaltinga av kulturskattane. Eg håper han har rett når han skriv:

I would like the people of the world to know that today all of the Egyptian monuments are safe. All the archaeological sites in Aswan, such as the Temple of Philae, the Unfinished Obelisk, the Island of Kalabsha, the Tombs of the Nomarchs, and Elephantine Island are completely safe. The temples of Edfu and Kom Ombo are also safe. All of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Tombs of the Nobles, and the temples of Luxor and Karnak are safe. The temples of Dendera, Abydos, the sites in Akhmim, and all sites in Middle Egypt, such as Tuna el-Gebel, Amarna, and Beni Hasan, are safe. All sites in Alexandria are safe. All the mosques, synagogues, and monasteries are safe; nothing has happened to any of them.

Midt i denne tankegangen må eg jo også ta med dette poenget: Den verkeleg store uroen gjeld sjølvsagt menneska i Egypt. Eg håper at moderate krefter som vil ha fridom (også religionsfridom!) og demokrati blir ståande som vinnarar i det som skjer nå. Men eg er langt frå sikker på at dette blir utfallet.

Tunnel nær tempelhøgda

Arkeologar har grave ut ein gamal dreneringstunnel som bind saman Davidsbyen i Jerusalem med området ved tempelhøgda. Tunnelen er frå tida før år 70 e. Kr.

Haaretz skriv:

Digging completed on tunnel under Old City walls in East Jerusalem

(…) The tunnel, which was uncovered during excavations conducted over the past few months, was formerly used for drainage and dates back to the Second Temple. It links the City of David in Silwan with the Archaeological Park & Davidson Center, which is located near the Western Wall.

(Les meir)

Arbeidet med tunnelen har vore kjent i nokre år. Eg skreiv om den i 2007 i notatet Imponerande dreneringskanal. Desse utgravingane også har nær samanheng med funnet av den gamle pilegrimsvegen som gjekk opp frå Siloadammen til tempelhøgda (her).

BiblePlaces Blog skriv også om samanhengen mellom pilegrimsvegen og dreneringstunnelen.

(via PaleoJudaica)

Mosaikken frå Lod

I 1996 blei det funne nokre flotte romerske mosaikkbilete i Lod nær Tel Aviv. I desse dagar skal noko av dette visast fram på utstillingar i USA, og kritikaren James Gardner skriv i den samanheng om mosaikken frå Lod i The Wall Street Journal.

Lod er kjent frå bibelsk tid. I Apg 9,32-35 blir det fortalt om at Peter gjorde eit under her og at dette førte til at folket i byen vende om til Herren. Dette var før byen blei øydelagt i år 66 under Den jødiske krigen. Dei omtalte mosaikkfunna er frå ei seinare tid, ca år 300.

Her er eit utdrag frå artikkelen i The Wall Street Journal:

A Dining Room’s Feast for the Eyes

In 1996 a highway was being constructed in Lod, a town 10 miles southeast of Tel Aviv, when, as so often happens in those parts, the workers came upon an ancient and heretofore unknown archaeological site. Naturally all work stopped at once, a bevy of specialists, led by Dr. Miriam Avissar, was called in and, a few months later, a wonder was announced to the world.

The most conspicuous component of the excavations was a merchant’s house from about A.D. 300. Discovered therein was the nearly intact mosaic floor of a dining room.

(…)

Anciently known as Lydda, Lod was destroyed by Roman soldiers during the Jewish Wars in A.D. 66. Refounded by the emperor Hadrian as Diospolis some 60 years later, it fell to Muslim invaders in A.D. 636. Probably we will never know anything about the owner of the house in Lod. Whether he was a Roman or a native of Roman- occupied Judaea is unclear. It is equally uncertain whether he was Christian, Jewish or pagan. What is evident is that, at a time when Christianity was becoming the dominant creed of the Roman Empire, there is nothing visibly religious about the recently unearthed floor.

(les meir)

(via PaleoJudaica)

Tel Qudadi i Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv er med sine ca 100 år ein relativt ung by. Det er Jaffa, den gamle byen som har vakse saman med Tel Aviv, som står for historia. Men det viser seg at det også i den moderne storbyen finst arkeologiske spor frå ei heilt anna tid:

Secrets of an Ancient Tel Aviv Fortress Revealed
TAU researchers connect their city to the Greek island of Lesbos

Tel Qudadi, an ancient fortress located in the heart of Tel Aviv at the mouth of the Yarkon River, was first excavated more than 70 years ago — but the final results of neither the excavations nor the finds were ever published. Now, research on Tel Qudadi by archaeologists at Tel Aviv University has unpeeled a new layer of history, indicating that there is much more to learn from the site, including evidence that links ancient Israel to the Greek island of Lesbos.

“The secrets of this ancient fortress are only beginning to be revealed,” Dr. Alexander Fantalkin and Dr. Oren Tal of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Archaeology say. Their new research was recently published in the Palestine Exploration Quarterly and BABESH: Annual Papers on Mediterranean Archaeology.

(les meir)

(via Ferrell’s Travel Blog som også har med eit stort bilete av munninga av Yarkonelva)

Verdifulle funn på avvegar

Til vanleg tenkjer eg at gjenstandar som blir funne av arkeologar, er i trygge hender. Eg veit sjølvsagt om at det finst kriminalitet også på dette området. Men nå har eg kome over ei historie som viser at verdifulle funn også kan koma på avvegar på grunn av tilfeldig lagring.

På 1970-talet blei det utført viktige arkeologiske utgravingar på Sionshøgda i Jerusalem. I åra etterpå blei gjenstandane som var funne, lagra og flytta fleire gonger. Til slutt var det ingen som visste kvar dei var!

Arkeologen Shimon Gibson har i fleire år leita etter dei forsvunne gjenstandane frå desse utgravingane. Nå har han funne “skatten” i ein kjellar i Gamlebyen:

Indeed I began searching for these artifacts in the 1990s but without luck, and I, too, gave up on the search. And then, suddenly, a miracle occurred: hundreds of crates, boxes and bags of archaeological artifacts were found locked away in padlocked cellars in the Old City.

Gjenstandane var dessverre i elendig forfatning. Nå samlar han inn pengar for å finansiera restaurering og registrering. Slik skriv han om funnet:

Study of amazing artifacts from ancient Jerusalem

Incredibly important ancient treasures from first-century Jerusalem – from the time of the ancient Jewish Temple and from the time Jesus was crucified – were dug out of the ground of Mount Zion in the 1970s and put into temporary storage. Usually this is where the scientific study of archaeological finds starts, with archaeologists writing up reports and with special objects being shown in museums. Unfortunately, owing to unpredictable circumstances, these unique finds were shifted from one location to another. Eventually their exact whereabouts came to be forgotten. Three decades went by. Everyone thought the finds were lost forever. Indeed I began searching for these artifacts in the 1990s but without luck, and I, too, gave up on the search. And then, suddenly, a miracle occurred: hundreds of crates, boxes and bags of archaeological artifacts were found locked away in padlocked cellars in the Old City. It turned out that these were the artifacts I had been hunting for over so many years…

This sounds like the lead-up of a movie but it is a true story, and the quantity and quality of artifacts is amazing. When we began unpacking some of the crates I was astonished to find a veritable treasure trove of unique and important objects, including a large bronze Christian crucifix, small potsherds with Hebrew and Greek inscriptions, some dating to Old Testament times, and well-preserved, large wall paintings from two thousand years ago (similar to those known from Pompeii) depicting columned-buildings, birds, and floral designs. Such museum-quality artifacts could help rewrite the history of Mount Zion and ancient Jerusalem, and you would think institutions would be falling over each other to help finance a project to preserve them, but they aren’t. This is why I need your help.

(les meir)

Arkeologi i Israel, 10/2010

Bible and Interpretation har publisert ei oppdatering av arkeologiske nyheiter frå Israel i oktober 2010. Artikkelen fokuserer på

• at Israel Antiquities Authority er 20 år: “… As part of its 20^th anniversary celebrations, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced its plan to digitize the complete remains of the Dead Sea Scrolls to make them available to the public on line.”
• funn av bysantinsk mosaikk frå 500-talet i Tel Shikmona ved Haifa: “… The mosaic presently being exposed and cleaned belonged to an ecclesiastical structure of the Byzantine period and will be exhibited to the public as part of a national archeological park connected with the Hecht Archaeological Museum of Haifa University.”
• professor Ehud Netzer død: “… This was a tragic end to a distinguished career that started as a site architect under Yigael Yadin at Masada, and finished clarifying most of the important monuments of the Hasmonean and Herodian periods in Israel.”

(via BiblePlaces Blog)